Something Yellow

This yellow box holds my daughter’s nail polish collection. Since we have a dog named Daisy, the box makes us smile. The lovely Marie hates to go junking with me but sometimes she likes the treasures I bring home and claims them as her own.

Moon

On the 13th day of the photo challenge I took a picture of the moon. It was full that night and I love how the lights look.

The sky is so dark and I couldn't see a single star. When I was a child, looking into the night sky and pretending I could point out constellations was something I loved to do. Honestly, I never could make sense out of the night sky.

I saw a lizard outside in my garden this morning and was lucky enough to get a picture of him. See you next time...

Lace

When my kids created this 30 day photo challenge, I know they went around the house looking for things that would photograph well. I am a textile collector, so of course they thought of lace. I recently bought a stack of samples for a quarter. I have no idea what I will do with them, but they are pretty and make me smile.

chopsticks

I should have ironed the cloth but it was almost ten p.m. when I realized I hadn’t taken care of my blog today. Marty, my ten year old son asked me if I forgot something. It’s very important to him that I take a picture a day every day for thirty days because I said I would. My challenge today was chopsticks. See you next time...

basket

I totally intended to go out in my neighborhood and photograph this neighbor’s yard that has an adorable four foot concrete basket in their yard. But it was HOT outside, so I photographed my picnic basket. Then the kids wanted a picnic lunch which we totally ate inside. I made devilled eggs with sour cream instead of mayonnaise. They were so good!  See you next time…

marbles

This is my son Marty’s marble collection. He’s extremely proud if it and like most collectors he can tell you a story about each one. He knows exactly where they came from and when he got them.

Like most moms, I look at his collection and see clutter. He keeps them neatly corralled, though. I appreciate that. I have to admit, they are pretty.

The lovely Marie is getting really good at drawing anime. I need to get back to writing my novel. See you next time.

keys

Have you ever bought something just because it was on sale and the price was unbelievably low? I’m guilty as charged. The things is, after reading books like Cheap by Ellen Ruppel Shell and A year Without Made in China by Sara Bongiorni, my eyes have been opened. The overwhelming feeling of guilt keeps me from shopping retail for home goods any longer. Years ago I bought these keys at Kirkland’s because they were on sale for a dollar. I do think they are super duper cute, but I just can’t shop like that anymore. Oh, the burden of enlightenment. See you next time…

Plaid

Hello Gubner, those are my pens that look like an English cop and Royal guards from Buckingham Palace and The Tower of London, respectively. A friend gave me these as a souvenir from her trip to London. The plaid tin is part of my collection of tins that make me smile. It holds oil pastels for art projects. The cup was found at a resale shop for a quarter and I knew my pens would feel at home hanging out in it. Sometimes I use the pens and I always speak in a truly horrid cockney accent when I do. I'm pretty sure my kids challenged me to photograph plaid because there’s quite a bit of it around the house. I’m glad for plaid. It’s a fun print!

Gates and Fences

In my head right now I'm hearing Eminem rapping, "When I say I'm gonna do somethin', I do it." So that's what's up with the not so great photo. I challenged myself to take a picture every day for thirty days and today's subject was a fence or a gate.

I like the rustic looking ones. So ranchy.

They get an A for effort.

See you next time.

bicycle

I keep visual journals that I call my Look Books. Any picture that sparks my imagination, I paste down into sketch books. This is the cover of the last one I completed in June. I started another one as soon I finished this one. Bicycles are a common theme in my books.

To me a bicycle represents freedom, and the innocence of youth.

People who know me well know that riding a bicycle with a basket full of flowers through Holland during tulip season is on my bucket list. Why? I don’t know. It just is.

I never had a ten-speed when I was growing up because my legs are too short. I had a blue bicycle much like Pee-Wee Hermann’s and I loved it. Naïve me recently lent my son’s bicycle to our teenage neighbor. She ran away on the bicycle and my son was distraught. Luckily, the girl is okay and her mom bought my son a replacement bike. City living constantly teaches me something new. (I grew up in the suburbs of Houston and lived in Austin when they had the yellow bike program)Who knew that people lie? I sure didn’t. Honestly. See you next time.

Carousel

Today’s photo challenge was a carousel. Those sly kids of mine knew that meant a trip to the mall where there is a double decker carousel. You never really have to ask me twice to go to the mall anyway.

So, we got some back to school shopping done. And Marty got his cotton candy since I totally reneged on Shakespeare in the Park. In my defense, it was HOT yesterday.  

I wish The Memorial City Mall had a Betsey Johnson store because I like to poke around in there. I know enough not to wear her clothes any more. I still wear her accessories. I try not to embarrass my children too much. Plus, it gives my daughter something cute to borrow.

Aren't these Betsey earring just to live for? (I always say to live for, who wants to die? How would I enjoy them if I died?)

For my artist date today I stayed home to watch Spirited Away. I love that movie and it always inspires me. I’m writing a coming of age story. My main character is adamant on being called Andrew, not Andy. I was thinking of how the girl in Spirited Away has her true name stolen, which is a pretty common theme in fairy tales. My son, who insists on being called Marty, tells me he’ll go by Martin when he’s a man. Names can be so powerful, can’t they?

It’s time to get back to working on my novel. See you next time.

Scultpure and some thoughts on finishing what you start

When the kids challenged me to photograph a sculpture today I knew they had something different in mind. The lovely Marie loves to visit the Sam Houston statue at Hermann Park, but I’ll tell you what. It is HOT outside. I wasn’t going to Hermann Park or the Museum of Fine Arts. No way, no how. Around the corner from my house there’s a cool sculpture that a welder neighbor of ours crafted and two blocks away there’s a giant fishing rod dangling a fish. All good subject matters, but I was too hot to leave the house. So I made a pitcher of cherry limeade and took a picture of the whale sculpture that the lovely Marie made in second grade for my mother’s day gift. I really do love it.

Did I mention it was HOT today? Too hot to go to Sonic for a cherry limeade, so I made one myself. Here’s my improvised recipe:

First make a simple syrup with 2 cups sugar (I used about 2 tablespoons less than that) and 1 cup of water and ¼ cup of frozen cherries. (I had exactly that much in the freezer, so that’s what I used. I told you I improvised). Stir constantly and once the water boils take the syrup off the stove. Pour the mixture into a gallon pitcher filled with crushed ice. The ice will melt and you will add in 2 cups of fresh squeezed lime juice. Stir it up  then add water to fill the gallon pitcher and enjoy the limeade over crushed ice. Yum!

This is the David sculpture by Michelangelo, of course. My son Marty aspires to go to Yale and major in art so that he can become a sculptor. One of his favorite bedtime stories that I used to tell him was how Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo once got into a fist fight over a piece of marble. Leonardo had some ideas of what he might do and Michelangelo knew he would sculpt David. I had read about this somewhere and it was such fun to tell this apocryphal story to my son whose eyes would widen in wonder. He always got the giggles when my husband would chime in from the other room saying that of course Michelangelo kicked DaVinci’s butt, because he was a stone mason with big muscles and DaVinci was just a daydreamer. Just? As if... 

I myself am a daydreamer.  This is one of my favorite books with some really great insights in how to channel your creativity. I highly recommend it. When I would tell my son the story of the fight over the marble that both great artists wanted, it was to illustrate the point that finishing what you start is very important. With that being said, I need to work on the novel I’m writing. See you next time!

Something red: W is for wagon and H is for happy!

I love this little painting. When I was a kid, helping my mom decorate her classroom was one of my absolute favorite tasks. It’s almost back to school time and I am salivating as I think of buying new school supplies. My absolute favorite thing to do is shop the art supplies clearance right around the beginning of October. The office supply stores do super mark downs. One time I bought a gorgeous set of eight marbleized pencils in rainbow colors for just 89 cents. I heard the hallelujah chorus that day! Another time I got 24 watercolor pencils for 50 cents. Wowza! What was your favorite school supply? A big box of crayons? Glue, paper, pencils, folders? Mine was manilla paper. I loved the way it felt, smelled, everything. Smencils are on my list this year. Scented pencils! How fun. See you next time.

http://www.smencils.com

Earrings

I love earrings, don’t you? My mom had my ears pierced when I was a baby and somehow my holes have never closed. Miraculous. (I told you I see miracles everywhere.) I saw this idea for framing earrings in a Romantic Homes Magazine. All I did was paint a needlepoint canvas silver and staple it into a frame. Super easy. Now I can look at my glittering earrings as though they are art.

So, today begins the start of a new 30day photo challenge presented to me by my children. A little birdie tells me I’m going to have fun.

30 Day Photo Challenge:

1.       Earrings

2.       Something red

3.       Sculpture

4.       Carousel

5.       Bicycle

6.       A gate or fence

7.       Plaid

8.       Keys

9.       Marbles

10.   A basket

11.   Chopsticks

12.    Lace

13.   The moon

14.   Something yellow

15.   Peace symbol

16.   Boat

17.   Tiara or crown

18.   Drum or tambourine

19.   Asian lettering

20.   Waterfall

21.   Map

22.   Bird

23.   Ice cream cone

24.   Boots

25.   Angel

26.   Something purple

27.   Mermaid

28.   Heart

29.   Socks

30.   Gazebo

Starting tomorrow

Starting tomorrow I'm going to keep up with another 30 day photo challenge. I like the discipline. My kids crafted the challenge and they take great pride in it. They also asked me to watch this cool video where Phineas and Ferb from the Disney Channel rock out with Slash. They think it's hilarious that I used to rock out to Guns and Roses. And don't get them started on the thought of me in spandex. Their eyes get as huge as saucers then they claim to be blind and deaf. http://kids.yahoo.com/movies/videos/video/26015422

Day 30: Another self portrait and some thoughts on Shakespeare

Today is the last day of this 30 day photo challenge and today’s challenge was another self-portrait. I took a picture of myself doing what I most love to do, creating. I’m working on a little book for the lovely Marie who is so scared about starting middle school. I like to write poems for her and enclose them in collaged journals. It seems like only yesterday that I created an alphabet book for her. My goodness, in September the lovely Marie will be 12!

I remember being twelve. I’ve given her permission to hate my guts because somehow I think it will hurt less if I say it’s okay. It’s going to happen anyway. We stopped by Hot Topic today to buy some t-shirts. Marty got a Shane Dawson t-shirt and I swear I teared up because I recalled so clearly his picking out Wiggles t-shirts. Murray was his favorite Wiggle. Those days are gone, gone, gone.

So, we went to The Bedrock City on Westheimer. There’s a reason I like to go on my artist dates alone. Marty wanted about $150 worth of comics and graphic novels but he had to settle for this one. Crysis?

 

The lovely Marie got a graphic novel of King Lear. She is a true Shakespeare aficionado. Every summer we go to Shakespeare in the park at Miller Outdoor Theater.

Sunday August 3^rd we’re going to see The Taming of the Shrew. I think she’ll like it a lot. I first discovered Marie liked Shakespeare right before she started kindergarten. Every summer I read a play by Shakespeare because I like to. No other reason. I was reading Julius Cesar and she asked me to read some of it to her. I used to read to the kids all the time. Anyway, I told her I didn’t think she would like it but she insisted, so I started reading. Next thing I know, she’s gasping. “Oh my God,” she shrieked. “They’re going to kill him!” Wow. Five years old and she got it. I remember being in high school and kids complaining they didn’t get it or that Shakespeare used too many clichés.

 (the wrestling scene from As You Like It)

 

So, the first Shakespeare play I took the kids to see was As You Like it. Marty and Marie ran around the hill acting like a four and a five year old will act . My husband and I enjoyed the show. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, the lovely Marie says to me, “So, is that Rosalind gay or what?” I guess you either get it or you don't. My husband shares our love for the bard but Marty only goes along to the plays for the sno-cones.  Right now Marie is reading King Lear and she keeps muttering that Reagan and Goneril are evil. Just evil. And Marty is asking if they're going to have cotton candy this year because he could really go for some cotton candy. I'll let you know. See you next time.

Black and White

Today’s challenge was black and white. My camera has a black and white setting. You can also choose a sepia tone. Cool.

I also took a picture of something that is black and white in color. I bought this clock at Family Dollar a few months back on clearance for just $2.oo I didn’t exactly need a clock, but man, it was cheap and cute.

I made pretzels today. Not as pretty as the ones at the mall, but definitely just as yummy. I’m trying to decide what to do for my artist date tomorrow. Where should I go? It’s so hot outside. I have to find somewhere inside with air conditioning. Maybe I’ll go to the comic book store. My son loves it there, but the point of artists dates is to have some alone time. Still, I want to see if I can find a Cowboys and Aliens graphic novel. I’m so excited about the upcoming movie.

See you next time.

Day 28: Flowers

“There are flowers everywhere for those who bother to look.” Matisse

This is my butterfly bush. It’s been too hot lately for any butterflies but I guess the plant is pretty drought tolerant because it’s doing okay.

I wish I were a better photographer because I saw flowers everywhere today. Did I take good pictures of flowers? Not really. Matisse is one of my favorite artists. I love, love, love this children’s book about him, A Bird or Two: A Story about Henri Matisse by Bijou Le Tord. This book made me aware of a church Matisse designed in a small town on the French Riviera.

One day I'll get to see it in person. It's on my to do list. What's on your to do list? Where do you long to visit? The 30 day photo challenge is winding down and I've been working on starting a new one because challenging myself to take a picture every day has been an amazing experience. It's too fun to just stop. Join me, I think you'll like it. See you next time...